(Matthew 1:1 KJV) The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

When I was in my first year of High School, the faithful Gideons gave my classmates and me a New Testament. For this I am eternally grateful; I still have that little Bible, and read it regularly. However, because it was the King James Version, and began with all of the "begats" and unusual names, my well-intentioned friends never got past the first chapter. But I now love Matthew 1, because it highlights an extraordinarily important point; after 28 repetitions of how each generation was conceived the same way, suddenly it highlights a drastic contrast:

(Matthew 1:16–18 DKJV) And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. (17) So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations (begats); and from David until the deportation to Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations. (18) But the origin (birth—the manner of generation) of Jesus Christ took place like this: after his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together [in intimate relations], she was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Wow! Did you see the word, "but," at the beginning of verse 18? That's a word implying that what follows is in stark contrast to what preceded it. For 28 generations, each descendant was fathered in the same way. But when it came to Jesus, his conception was completely unlike any of these.
Mary's pregnancy came about after her engagement—her covenantal pledge of exclusive intimacy to Joseph. But it happened "before" they were married, implying before they had any intimate relations. In other words, Mary was still a virgin when Jesus was conceived. This was the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy:

(Isaiah 7:14 KJV) Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

In this passage, God wanted to assure king Ahaz of Judah that he would "save" his faithful people; so he promised a sign that only he could give, a virgin birth. Moreover, the son to be born through the virgin would be called "Immanuel" (Emmanuel)—meaning God with us.

We note that Matthew 1:18 said that Mary was "found" to be pregnant. This was obviously a devastating shock for her fiancée, Joseph, and her parents, etc. In their culture, engagement was very formal; it was as binding as marriage. She had pledged herself to Joseph. Relations with any other man after that was as heinous as adultery, and would instantly break their covenant of marriage—subjecting her to a public trial, etc. Thankfully, Joseph loved Mary so much that despite her apparent infidelity—and contrary to cultural norms—he didn't want to subject her to public defamation:

(Matthew 1:19–21 NKJV) Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. (20) But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. (21) And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."

Joseph's God-assigned responsibility in parenting the child Jesus was crucially important, so God sent an angel to assure him that this really was the prophesied sign of a virgin birth. What's more, the angel confirmed that he should call his name Jesus, which is Greek for Joshua—meaning God helps or saves; Jesus is the Savior—the one who saves "his people from their sins." And he is Emmanuel—God with us.

For us today, Jesus is our Savior—born of a virgin—the Son of God, but also the son of man. By natural genealogy, his humanness was the son of Mary and Joseph, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam, the son of God (See: Luke 3:38). Jesus is both God and man. I like to think of him as God disguised as a man.

We see from this that the great creator-God of the universe lived as a human, and became subject to the same things that we are. Yet he didn't ever succumbed to the temptations that led to the fall of Adam and Eve, which polluted the entire human race with sin and its devastating consequences. Our Lord Jesus is completely sinless—the only truly perfect sacrificial lamb.

I encourage you today; look at the account of Jesus's birth again, with fresh eyes, asking for God's revelation and insight. See afresh the amazing truth that the God of the universe is so humble that he would come as a baby, born in a manger, submitted to plain, humble parents, and grow up in the environment man's sin had degraded. And then he suffered the rejection and assaults of those he came to rescue, ending his natural life here as the innocent victim of a monumental miscarriage of justice—murdered by those he was sent to save. And then finally, to use that cold-blooded murder to be the very act that would pay for the crimes of those who perpetrated it—along with every other sin of Adam and his descendants.

What an amazing God we have. He is so moved by love for us that he would go to this length to see us reconciled to him as his children. Let's respond by lavishing our love, praise, and gratitude on him today. And let's receive with joy his fathering role in our lives, accepting his love, input, gifts, and guidance.

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